Don't Say This to Homeschool Moms

One of my favorite bloggers is Kris Bales over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

She shared a list of 7 Things You Should Never Say to a Homeschool Mom and I think it's very well done (and super funny)!  So go read that and then come back here for my commentary.

What about socialization?

Making sure our children have opportunities to interact with other children and build friendships is important.  Duh.  But why the heck is this still people's go-to criticism?  It's getting old and not as big a deal as many think.  I think most moms are capable and intuitive enough to look at their kids and notice if they need more friends or social skills.  Moms are smart.  Trust us.  If our kids need something, we'll take care of it.

What do you do all day?

I've never been asked this question. I must be lucky to be surrounded by unusually wonderfully supportive friends and acquaintances.    More often than not, the people in my life are the ones that are reminding me how busy I am when I try to volunteer to put one more thing on my plate.

Just think, if you didn’t homeschool, you’d have more time to clean house.

 Yep, my house is often pretty messy and I'm never fully "caught up" on dishes or laundry.  But that's ok.  And hypothetically just because I send my oldest kids to school, doesn't mean I'll clean all day while they're gone.  I would easily find more important things to fill my day with (errands, volunteering in classrooms, taking the littles to activities.)   I also really like that the kids are home to see what it takes to keep a household running, and learn to pitch in.  Life skills!   

You must have so much patience.

I wish I had more.  

Do you own anything besides yoga pants?

I actually don't own yoga pants, though I wish I did.  But if you drop by my house unexpectedly during the day, it would not be unusual to see me still in pajamas.  So what?  And I do put on "real" clothes before leaving the house.  Unless I'm going to Walmart.  In that case, what's the point?

Since you’re home, would you mind babysitting for me?

I usually have no problem babysitting for friends during the day on occasion.  I can be flexible.  And sometimes giving my kids an opportunity to play with/help take care of younger children and teaching them the importance of giving service takes priority over grammar lessons.  The problem would be if it turned into a regular thing and it really started to cut into our school time.  Hopefully friend would have the courtesy to at least offer to compensate me, and hopefully I would have the courtesy to make my concerns known.